Jason Terry drilled 5-of-7 from 3-point range and finished with 17 points while Paul Pierce was 4-of-8 from long distance and added 16 as the Celtics overcame an early 11-point hole and stunned the Knicks, 92-86, Wednesday night in Game 5 at TD Garden. Game 6 is now set for Friday night at TD Garden, with the Celtics trailing, 3-2, in the best-of-seven series.

Jeff Green scored 18, Brandon Bass added 17 and Kevin Garnett hauled in 18 rebounds and hit a key jumper with under a minute left, as the Celtics became the 11th team in NBA history to force a Game 6 after falling into a 3-0 hole. Only three have ever forced a Game 7 and none have ever come all the way back and won the series.

Boston finished 11-for-20 from 3-point range while the Knicks were 5-for-20 from distance.

Kenyon Martin and several Knicks arrived at Madison Square Garden wearing all black, making good on a promise to dress for what they predicted was a Celtics funeral. J.R. Smith, who announced the Knicks would’ve won Game 4 and swept the series if he weren’t suspended, missed his first 11 shots and picked up a double-technical with Terry midway through the fourth quarter. The game ended with a heated exchange involving Jordan Crawford, Carmelo Anthony and Raymond Felton as the two teams walked off the court.

But early on, things couldn’t have started much worse for the Celtics. They missed their first five jumpers from the floor while the Knicks raced out to an 11-0 lead.

Bass was the only Celtics player holding things together. Bass hit his first three shots while the rest of the Celtics started 0-for-8.

Trailing 15-6, Bass’ layup started a 14-7 Celtics run to end the first quarter and Boston trailed by just two, 22-20, with Bass tallying nine points.

The Knicks were clearly frustrated and borderline shaken by Boston’s ability to fight back. Martin picked up his third foul with 9:10 left in the second quarter when he delivered a tomahawk chop to Garnett. The call was initially ruled ‘Flagrant 1′ but was rescinded after video review.

The Knicks appeared to right the ship somewhat after that, opening a 32-26 lead on a Felton layup with 7:26 left. But the Celtics again responded with a fury. Pierce hit a pair of threes that sparked a 19-7 run to end the second quarter, as Boston silenced a very nervous Madison Square Garden crowd and took a 45-39 halftime lead. Garnett was big on the glass in the first half, with nine rebounds and 10 points.Read the rest of this entry »

NEW YORK — Doc Rivers had a prediction of his own Wednesday night, less than an hour before Game 5 at Madison Square Garden. Reminded that the Celtics have erased historic deficits in the past, such as being down 2-0 and 3-1. But neither they nor any NBA team in history has come all the way back from 3-0 down to win an NBA playoff series.

How appropriated would it be for the Celtics to be the first?

“I think so,” Rivers said. “I think that would be wonderful, and someone’s going to do it, and I want it to be us since that’s the situation we’re in. But someone will do it and I really want to be a part of that.”

But that’s where the talk and statement-making ends for Rivers.

Kenyon Martin made good on a prediction that he would have players show up in all black for the Celtics’ funeral Wednesday, all players arrived in black suits and ties. Asked for a reaction to the Knicks showing up in their dressing room all wearing back, Rivers fired back, “So did I.”

The playoffs have always been putting actions before words.

Rivers knows this better than anyone. He knows when teams talk like the Knicks did after Game 4, that’s usually a sign of immaturity and sometimes panic.

So, when asked if he thinks at all about what the series would be like if the Celtics had Rajon Rondo, Rivers used the chance to jab back at the Knicks.

“I don’t think that,” Rivers said of Rondo’s absence and the role in the series. “I don’t use that as a reason. Just like the Knicks probably shouldn’t use that the reason we won was because J.R. Smith didn’t play. But they did.

“That’s what they should do. I hope they expend it all. I don’t really care. We just have to come out ready to play. They’re at home, they’re going to try and feed off their crowd and all that but at the end of the day, it’s going to be between the lines. It’s not going to be what anybody out in the crowd says or does. It’s going to be between the lines.”

Reminded of his one-game-at-a-time mentality heading into another elimination game, Rivers added, “We have no choice. We need to go one possession at a time, really. It’s what you really need to do in the playoffs. To be really great, you need to be one possession at a time.”

More from Rivers shootaround and pregame:

On Jeff Green‘s emergence as a go-to scorer: “I’ve got a feeling they probably went to Durant in Oklahoma City. At Georgetown, he was the guy. He got them to the Final Four. He’s been there before.”

“If he plays well, he will. If he doesn’t, then he’ll do it again next year. If he plays well [next year], then that will be. I don’t try to put too much on any one game or one series. He’s so young, he has a long career. The sooner he gets it going, the better for everybody.”

On whether Green is back to full strength after heart surgery: “I don’t know about this surgery. It’s usually ankles, knees and things like that. I don’t know is the answer. I would say usually in that case but it’s not anything I’m thinking about right now, to be honest. It’s not my concern or thought.”

On what experience in playoffs means: “The playoffs are the best tool of teaching you can use for all the players. Even the veterans learn in the playoffs because you really do understand that every possession matters in a game and not the last possession when you decide to focus on that and then you realize it’s too late.

I think everybody, even the guys who aren’t playing a lot, they see it, they see the intensity that if you want to be great, that you have to play at, consistently.

On Avery Bradley, his struggles and his matchup this series with Raymond Felton: “I think it spills over to the defense at times. You’re human. If you’re not making shots and you’re getting down on that, that takes away energy from you, on both ends. I think overall, he’s fighting through it. I think he’s coming out of it. He made his first shot the other night [in Game 4] and didn’t make another one. But he made his first shot. More importantly, I didn’t think he hesitated on any of the other shots. That’s all we want him to do. For us, he’s our defensive player. The offense will come.”

He also knows how to tune it out like no one else, or at least not feed into publicly.

J.R. Smith said there wouldn’t be a Game 5 Wednesday night in New York if he had not been suspended for Game 4, while Kenyon Martin is suggesting black formal wear at Madison Square Garden for the Celtics‘ funeral.

“I have not paid attention to none of the shenanigans,” Garnett said before Wednesday morning’s shootaround at Madison Square Garden.

Garnett says he knows what it will take to be successful in Game 5 — taking one possession at a time and not getting overwhelmed by New York’s tenacious defense.

“It’s not that hard, to be honest,” Garnett said of the approach. “Taking one possession at a time is something you have to be conscious of, not individually but as a group. Understanding each possession and what it means, the importance of that possession. Small things are what’s going to make this a do-or-die type of game.

“I think it’s more, not for us to [instill] doubt, but it’s important to show some type of barrier, if not willingness, in this whole game. We know we’re playing on the road and we know they play really well here. I think the important thing is not to get down, to come out with some fire and play throughout with that fire.”

Garnett appreciates some of the fire on the Celtics bench in the form of Rajon Rondo. Garnett said he’s been huge in helping Avery Bradley and Terrence Williams while being an extra pair of eyes for him and Paul Pierce in the post.

“More importantly, he’s talking to Avery, T-Will, the guys who play the point guard position, Paul and I about opportunity and being aggressive, giving the coaching staff a perspective. Doe is a very smart guy, very high IQ when it comes to a lot of different things. He’s giving his take on what he sees out there as far as where he’s at. But more importantly being a safety net for Avery right now. Avery goes through periods where it’s difficult. It’s going to happen. We’ve all been young before. Just being like a security blanket for Avery and anyone else who needs it.”

Garnett has 34 rebounds in the last two games. What has been the secret to his success?

“I don’t know,” he said. “I haven’t really [put] thought into it, to be honest. A lot of rebounding is timing. Tyson [Chandler] and I, Kenyon and I are down there battling for the ball. It’s not one or two things that go into it, nor would I like to share, but the things that I have been doing are working for me and I’m going to stick with it.

“You don’t have a choice whether you like it or not. It’s whether you adapt or not. If you don’t adapt, you know what end you end up on, and I don’t want to end up on that end.”

WALTHAM — It’s a theme that began last weekend after the Game 3 loss to the Knicks. Every game the rest of the series is like Game 7. It worked in Game 4 as the Celtics won, 97-90, in overtime but the Knicks still lead the series, 3-1.

“Like I told them, what’s the difference between being down 0-3 and being in a Game 7?” Doc Rivers asked rhetorically. “It’s no different. It’s an elimination game. The difference is your mindset. In a Game 7 you’re thinking, ‘Let’s win it to win it.’ When you’re down 0-3, you never know. You may have a couple guys making vacation plans, thinking you can’t do it. It’s all about the mindset. And that’s what I told our guys before the game the other night and that will be the message still. Each game you win, it is a Game 7. If you advance, you just advance to another game instead of to the next round. That’s got to be our mindset.”

“You know, Game 7s are all out,” Garnett said before Tuesday’s practice. “It’s just what they are. They’re your last opportunity to survive and your mentality can’t be anything different. We have no pressure at this point. It should be an all-out mentality and you should play with a free mind and an aggressive mind and take this thing one game at a time and see what happens. Other than that, we put [ourselves] in this position, and we can’t [complain] about too much.”

Did Sunday’s Game 4 OT win instill more confidence in the group as they hit the road?

“Don’t know,” Rivers answered. “I’m hoping that we had confidence to begin with, but I honestly don’t know. I think we are really looking forward to the next game.”

What was clear to Rivers and his coaching staff from watching film is that another 18 turnovers Wednesday in New York like they had on Sunday will end the season. Aside from turning the ball over, the Celtics need to repeat their offensive flow of the first half, when they shot 50 percent and built a 19-point halftime lead.

“Well, we have to repeat it,” Rivers said. “It’s clear when we play a certain way, and that’s in an attack mode, not settling offensively, moving the ball, getting in transition, we’re hard to stop. It’s also clear when we get into the half-court and slow the ball down we’re not that hard to stop and that’s obvious.”

Other nuggets from Tuesday practice from Doc Rivers:

Second chance points. Frustrating for KG? “That’s frustrating for him. And some of them were switches where we switch and Chandler is underneath with a guard. We got called for two face guard block outs, which is legal. And I think we have to explain that honestly to our official, because it doesn’t look legal and I agree with them in that, but it actually is a legal position. We’re telling our guards instead of backing up, turn around and face guard them and block them out that way. Your’e not going to get the ball, but they’re not going to either. So that’s something we’re trying to do. but their guards got a lot of rebounds too. Shumpert hurt us on the glass. Jason Kidd hurt us on the glass too. So we can’t give up the extra shots with the turnovers and the offensive rebounds and expect to win tomorrow on the road. We just can’t do that. So we have to definitely fix the turnovers first and then the rebounds second.

On admiring KG for hard work it takes to get ready? “No, people have no idea what he goes through, and you can’t unfortunately. But it really is watching him just in there now doing all the stuff that they’re doing, the stretching. He just plays because he loves it, and it’s will. A lot of guys would just not play anymore. The fact that he does and to the level that he does it, I mean he’s a rebounding machine for us right now, and we need it.” Read the rest of this entry »

Doc Rivers knew Jason Terry was fired up and still ticked off from the J.R. Smith elbow on Friday night late in Game 3.

That fire and determination paid huge dividends on Sunday in a 97-90 overtime, season-saving win at TD Garden. Terry drained the go-ahead three with 1:32 left in overtime, as he scored the final nine points of Game 4.

Was it the elbow that Smith threw that got him fired up?

‘He was definitely vocal,” Rivers said. “Someone said it [Saturday]; maybe that elbow ‘ who knows? [Terry] said it changed the events for all of us. Definitely Jason Terry was angry that it happened. He let his teammates know yesterday and today. But he’s just a fighter. I’ve told you that before. You know, I didn’t know him until this year and I said it the other day: he’s just one of those guys you want around your team, whether he’s playing or not. He brings sunshine. There’s guys ‘ I would say probably most of you guys, you bring those dark clouds every time I see you ‘ a couple of you don’t. But the sunshine-bringers, that’s who you want. And Jason Terry is one of those guys.’

Terry scored 18 points in 41 minutes off the Boston bench, both playoff highs so far.

‘He was great,” Rivers said. “You know, that’s what he does. He’s made so many big shots in his career; you knew in transition’¦It’s amazing, you know, you guys don’t get to see it but when you watch all the guys, and not just Jason Terry, but when you watch them practice on the floor on their own, they work on certain shots. And that’s the shot, that transition three is something he works on all the time. And you knew once he got it what he was going to do. I thought it was interesting when you watch the play, I thought Jason Kidd knew it too. Because you could see him coming from the basket, from them playing with each other. So it was a big shot. And the other shot he made was big as well. So, that’s what he does. That’s good.’

Rivers said the go-ahead three wasn’t the only huge shot Terry made in his 9-0 run.

‘Yeah, yeah, but the five were big,” Rivers said. “The three, and the two off the pick, those were huge. I’ll take all of them, but the five, they were huge.’

Noting that he really likes his defense on Carmelo Anthony, Celtics coach Doc Rivers announced that he is re-inserting Brandon Bass into the starting lineup, as Jason Terry heads back to his more customary role off the bench.

“I just like Brandon on Melo more,” Rivers said. “Like I said [Saturday], the smaller lineup, the numbers actually say it’s better, but I like our defense better the other way.”

The Celtics will face a Knicks team in Game 4 that will be without “Sixth Man of the Year” J.R. Smith, suspended for the game after throwing an elbow in the face of Terry with seven minutes left in Game 3. Smith, who was averaging 16.3 points in the first three games, was assessed a “Flagrant Foul 2″ for the violation and was suspended by the NBA on Saturday.

What will be the biggest impact of the Knicks losing their second-leading scorer?

“Listen, he’s one of their other guys that can create shots and, especially in the playoffs, you need a guy,” Rivers said. “You think about what we’ve done good in this series, the Knicks are being held 13 points under their normal [scoring] average. And J.R. Smith has played well, because in the playoffs you take teams out of their stuff, and it comes down to guys creating shots for themselves and others. Well, Melo does that, [Raymond Felton] has done that, and J.R. Smith does that. Now they don’t have one of those guys.”

Meanwhile, the Celtics will try to take the first step on the path to NBA history as no team has ever overcome an 0-3 hole in the postseason.

“Obviously when one team is in an elimination situation, and the other team is not, it’s mental really for both,” Rivers said. “I’m not going to concern myself with their mental, but with ours, it’s all mental, it always is.”

On the eve of what could be a series-clinching sweep in Game 4, Knicks guard J.R. Smith has been suspended by the NBA for one game without pay for throwing an elbow and striking the chin of Celtics‘ guard Jason Terry. Stu Jackson, Executive Vice President for Basketball Operations made the announcement.

The incident, for which Smith was assessed a Flagrant Foul Two and ejected, occurred with 7:06 remaining in the fourth quarter of New York’s 90-76 win over Boston last night, at the TD Garden.

Smith will serve his suspension when the Knicks face the Celtics at the TD Garden on Sunday at 1 p.m., with the Knicks needing just one more win to complete the series sweep.

Smith, who was honored before Game 2 on Tuesday as the NBA “Sixth Man of the Year”, has been New York’s second-leading scorer in the series (16.3) for the Knicks behind Carmelo Anthony.